Pensions prove a sore subject for one London insurer’s chief exec… November 6, 2015 Don't throw stones in glass houses. Take the plank out of your own eye before removing the dust in another’s. there’s a lot of ways of saying it. Personally, The Capitalist favours “don’t bang on about the Treasury reviewing pension tax breaks while you’re busy downgrading your own company’s scheme”, but that doesn’t have the same lyricism [...]
Worried about your pension investments? China’s staged a glorious return to the 10 best performing funds November 4, 2015 Following the "Great Fall of China" in August, investor confidence in Asian and other emerging markets has dipped, causing pension savers and individual investors to feel the heat. But there was a bit of good news this morning, after analysis from asset manager Hargreaves Lansdown suggested China-focused funds have bounced back. In fact, of the company's [...]
Association of British Insurers: Sales of annuities have picked up despite new pension freedoms November 3, 2015 Annuity sales rose to 22,380, worth £1.17bn, during the third quarter of 2015, the first time quarter-on-quarter sales have risen for three years, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) revealed at its Biennial Conference today. By comparison, annuity sales for the second quarter of 2015 where 18,200, worth £990m. Figures from the ABI also revealed that [...]
UK defined benefit pension scheme deficit worse than a year ago, finds JLT Employee Benefits November 2, 2015 The deficit for all private sector defined benefit pension schemes in the UK was an estimated £228bn at the end of October, according to figures from JLT Employee Benefits released today. By comparison, the deficit at the end of October 2014 was £208bn. JLT Employee Benefits estimates that total defined benefit pension liabilities for the [...]
Welfare coddles pensioners at the expense of the working poor – but it needn’t be like this October 29, 2015 The two biggest drivers of government spending, welfare and the NHS, will continue to dominate the political agenda this Parliament. Thanks to Monday’s vote in the House of Lords, delaying changes to tax credits, a £4bn hole in the government’s spending plans has now opened up. As ministers rethink their plans, they should address another [...]
UK pensions: People unwilling to pay full price for pensions advice, warns charity Citizens Advice October 29, 2015 Just two per cent of people are willing to pay a typical independent financial advisor’s (IFA) fee for pensions advice, research from charity Citizens Advice revealed today. While 47 per cent of the more than 2,000 people surveyed said they would be happy to spend some sort of fee for advice on defined contribution pension [...]
UK pensions: Almost £3bn withdrawn from pension savings pots since April this year, HMRC reveals October 28, 2015 HMRC announced today that 251,000 flexible payments from pensions, totalling £2.7bn, had been made since the pension freedoms rules came into effect in this April. In the last six months, 146,000 people have made a withdrawal from their pension under the new rules. The figures also showed that the number of people taking flexible payments [...]
Axa Wealth reveals new business jumped by 43 per cent in the third quarter October 27, 2015 Axa Wealth announced its third-quarter results today, revealing that new business had shot up 43 per cent to £578m. Pensions and funds under management for the pensions and investments company also grew by 14 per cent to £30.4bn. Results were also positive for Architas, Axa Wealth’s multi-manager arm, which reported an increase in assets of [...]
One in seven over-55s has been targeted by pension fraudsters October 27, 2015 New pension rules may have given savers more freedom when it comes to what to do with their cash – but it's pricked up the ears of fraudsters, too: new figures have suggested as many as 14 per cent of over-55s in work – that's about one in seven – reckon they've been targeted by a scammer since the new [...]
LV posts 19 per cent growth in sales of retirement products post-pension freedoms October 26, 2015 LV announced a growth in sales of retirement products of 19 per cent to £1.1bn over the last nine months. Protection sales also rose by 35 per cent to £209m for the period, contributing towards a total of 22 per cent growth in sales to £1.3bn for the life and pensions division of the financial services [...]